Ignition breaker box



May 6 1924.

S. C. MCKEOWN IGNITION BREAKER Box Filed Aug. 50 1920 Anon/vir Patentedy Many 6, 1924.

f sentirme. Moxaowmor Nnwmnnw man, AssIeNon'rosPLITnonrELEcTmt .f z i eALcomrm, orfNEwAzamNEw mnsEY@y .s f 1 remmen -nnnsxnnox f Animaties 'nga August so, leso. ,seilfna 4o`7,o4i. 'y

"Toall whomz't ma comernf ,n

, Be itfknown that ,l SAMUEL C. McKnowN, a Acitizen 'of-"the United States, residinv at Newark, in the l county y,of Essex andy tate I of New Jersey, have, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition Break er, Bxes, ofwhich they followin is a description, reference being had to t e accompanyingidrawin and to' kthe figures ofrefl erence marked tele'on.`

In 'the' construction n of ignition' breaker boxes, there is ordinarily provided a'fso" call d stationar contactv member andr an esci latingmein er' operated by a cam con- 1! `tasting 'periodicallytherewith. In order totime the' spark in an internal vcombustion engine,l it yhas been' customary to 'mount bothz contact members on a base shiftable about the axis ofthe cam.y This necessarily seentailed afiexible electric connection tothe so-cal'led stationary contact member. In the courseof time thisieiriblel lead dufe to the constant shifting or exing would break, thus interrupting the ignition circuit.

the contact makin vmembers onthe breaker box, that no flexi le lead is necessary for connectionwith the stationary contact mein-` f ber,-`whi1e enabling the propertiming `op-vr le eration tobeperformed.` e

nyfounddiiilcult to start an ,en 'nebecausegof the aceurmilat,ion`

Sometimesithas bee of 'aiilm o oxide, oil or other nonfconductive material on the contact makers;Y

3,5 It. is another object ofvmy invention to so mount the contact "membersthat this film y e y *n adapted to keepha thin'film of said lubricant of"` nonconductive material may be fremoived by v1movement of the timi means,

Another `object lof my invenion Ais tov 4.o mount the roscillating contact memberin a 'wide bearing so thatthe side blow .and push ofthe' operating cam will not cause thememf 4 e n n contact'carrying element 18 by means of a berr to wobble. t ,i Aiurtherf vebject of my invention/is to mount the contact points sothat a more even wear results on the oints than in the ordi'- nary construction o contact'breakers stillfurther robject of this invention is to "rovid'e readily. adjustable means for 50, s initial timing yof the'breakerjbox: y v, y Other and further objects of my invention will be apparenttothose skilled inthey art after consideration kof the specification and the drawingsattachedfhereto, in v'whiche5. Figc/rel isl-a'nendfview ofinycomplete:

` breakerfbos'lwith the 1 cover removed, ythe cover ,retaining springr being swung aside, 4 n

anda portion ing broken away.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 of Flig-l ure 1k looking inthe directionof the arrow and with the cover in place.'k

Figure 3fis aside view of my complete breaker box, and,

yFigure 4 is aperspecti,ve view of my oscillatory contact member. n

Figure 5 is a section fon the line 5 of Figure 1 lookingin;r the direction `of the arrow, certain parts being removed.` n o Referring 'now particularly tothe dra-vv-` ings in whichlike numbers'refer to the same parts the various figures, 5 is a cup shaped box @provided with 'three apertures 6. Through two of these' aperturesl suitable machine'screws are passed ytor fastening the cup shapedbox to 'a support as to a magneto frame.v In the other aperture a `post 7 is 7seated provided at its lower end with a s e e n aperture and adapted to be yscrewed into the One object lof my invention isfto so mount y afcover 10 in place.- 4

y.The basefof the: cup shaped box is recessed at 11s() as `to permit the passage into the cupshapedmember of ashaft provided withy an .o erating cam as is shown in the patentto son"'1`,226,982 granted May`22, 1917 'Integral with this cup shaped box'is ,'a"projecting 'support12 ina recessed portion 13 ofwhich is seated a yWick 14, the wick beingy impregnated with rva lubricant and on fthe-cam surface. To the end of the sup portv l(and suitablyfinsulated therefrom, as

n by yinsulation 15, is fastened La contact sup-- porting member k16 `by means of two screws,r 17,` landon this member Lis mounted the ,e contact 21.` Ther Icontact supporting `element is also provided witha `screw 22 for 'the proper atacbment of the terminalv of a Y low tension wire 23. Also secured in the bas'efiis apin 24 for a lpurpose to lbe hereinafterfdescribed. l 1

.Fitting Snugli'cs within the @up Shaped member isrank oscillating contact support,-`

ingringk provided with two ears 26 in which is mounted a pivot pin 27 supportingv the oscillatable contact member 28. The oscillatable contact member is hung from said pin by means of two arms 29 and is provided with a Contact point 30 also centrally located in the bor: and cooperating with the contact point 21. A flexible connection, preferably of woven copper is attached to a screw 31 on the contact member and is grounded to the ring by any suitable means.

Into the upper portion of the ring is threaded a brass screw 32 chambered so as to seat a spring 33 which presses against the oscillatable contact member 28 so as to normally force the two'contacts 21 and 30 into engagement with one another. On the lower side or' the member is mounted a bumper 34 of iibre or other suitable material 4adapted to contact with theoperating cam so as to cause the contacts 21 and 30 to make and break contact. This bumper is encompassed on three sides by downwardly turned lugs 35 and on the fourth side by the body portion proper of the oscillatable contact member 28. Suitable pins 3G are provided for securely retaining the bumper in place. These means securely hold the fibre bumper in place.

It is evident that by rotating the ring 25 by any suitable means, that the angular position ot the bumper with respect to the cam shaft may be altered thereby delaying or advancing the moment of contact of the contactmembers with respect to the angular position of the shaft. The means for rotatin@r the ring 25 comprises an annular toothed ring 3T integrally cast with or suitably secured to the ring 25. Cooperating with this ring is a second toothed annular ring 38 centered on a hub 39 of the ring 25 and provided with an operating arm 40 oscillated by the driver of the automative vehicle as will be readily understood.- In order to retain the two annular members in place, a retaining ring 41 of slightly less external diameter than the ring 38 is superimposed on the annular ring 38 and is fastened to the ring 25 by means of co-operating lugs 42 and 43 and the screws 44. To limit the angular movement of the ring 25 a recess 45 is cut in the ring 25, the end walls of which co-operate with the pin 24 in the cup shaped member 5. A co-operating hole 46 in the box 5 and recess 47 in the ring 25 enable the passage of the low tension Wire 23 there through for securement to the member 16 by screw 22. 'Ihe cover 10 fits snugly around the retaining ring 41 and abuts the annular ring 38.

To remove the ring 25 for inspection or repair of contact 30, it is merely necessary to loosen the screw 19 and to lift the contact carrying member 18 slightly to clear the pins 20, then by swinging the member 18 about its pivot 19 into line with the supporting member 16, all obstruction to the removal of the ring 25 is removed and the same may be pulled out of the box.

By slightly loosenin the screws 44, the teeth on thetwo annu ar ri being very shallow, the ring 38 may be sipped around the hub 39 to initially position the relative position of arm 40 and bumper 34 for pro er timing.

l hen it is found that the engine is hard to start because of ignition trouble, by jiggling the arm 40 the two Contact surfaces 21 and 3() are made to rotate one upon the other, thereby obtaining clean contact surfaces and enabling a better spark to be produced within the cylinders of the enine.

g It will also be noted that the two contacts are at a different angle to each other in retarded and advanced position of the timing means, which results in a more even Wear ot the contact oints than if the contacts were not rotate `relative to one another. It should further be noted that this takesplace without altering the workin gap between the points, thus permitting t e use of this construction on vibrators -1n general.

It is apparent that with the Wide bearings aiiord'ed by the pin 27 and the arms 29, there is little Wobbling of the oscillatory contact member possible and more accurate timing with little Wear results.

Having thus 4 described my invention, which is capable of embodiment in many different forms, what I claim is:

1. In a breaker box a pair of co-operating contacts, one of said contacts being fixed in position, the other of said contacts having only'two motions, one a motion of oscillation and vthe other one of rotation, the center of rotation being in said stationary Contact and means tovoperate said other contact independently of the rotational movement thereof.

2. In av breaker box a box member, 'a' stationary contact mounted thereon, a ring member rotatable within the box member, an oscillatable contact mounted on said ring member, both said contacts co-operatin substantially at the center of rotation ci; said ring fm'ember.

3. In a breaker box, a pair of co-operat ing contacts, one of said contacts being fixed in position, the other of said contacts being movable and having two motions, one a. motion of oscillation and the other one of rotation with means or rotating the same, the center of rotation being in said stationary contact, and means independent o said rotating meansl connected with said movable contact operated upon periodically to oscillate said movable contact.

I4. Ina breaker box a. box member, a stationary contact mounted thereon, a ring member rotatable within the box member, an oscillatable contact mounted on said ring member, both said contacts co-operating substantially at the center of rotation of said ring member, and means connected with said movable contact koperated upon periodically to oscillate said movable member.

5. In a breaker box a box member, a stationary contact mounted thereon, a ring member rotatable within the box member, means for rotating the ring member, an oscillatable contact mounted on said ring member, both said contacts co`operating substan- 7. A breaker box, comprising a cup shaped box member, a ring member rotatably mounted therein, a reciprocable contact member extending into the center of rotation of and carried by the ring member and a stationary contact member mounted on the box member provided with means whereby the same may be readily swun aside to permit removal of said ring memer.

8. A breakerbox comprising a' box member a ring member rotatably mounted therein, a reci rocable contact member extending into t e center of rotation of and carried by said ring member, a stationary contact member mounted `on the box member, a toothed annulus co-operating with said first annulus, and a clamping ring overlying said second annulus and secured to said ring member.

9. In acbreaker box, an oscillatable contact member comprising a contact bearing ortion, a bumper carrying portion and an intermediate portion provided with two arms, said arms being' widely yspaced apart and providedlwith means whereby the contact member may be pivotally mounted.

10. In a breaker box, a box member, a stationary contact mounted thereon, a ring member rotatable within the box member, a reciprocable contact mounted on said ring member, both said contacts co-operatin substantially at the center of rotation o saidkring mem-ber.

11. In a breaker box, a box member, a stationary contact mounted thereon, a ring member rotatably mounted within the box member, a reciprocable contact mounted on said ring member, both said contacts co-operating substantially at the center of rotation of said ring member, and means connectedkwith said movable contact operated upon periodically to reciprocate said movable member.

12. In a breaker box, a box member, a stationary contact,r mounted thereon, a ring member rotatable within the box member, means for rotating the rin member, a reciprocable contact morunt on said ring member, both said contacts co-operatin substantially at the center of rotation o said ring member.

In ltestimony whereof, I ailx my signature. e

' kSAMUEL C. MCKEOWN. 

